Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-23


proach of an equinox, or cyclone, or Il
| hurricane, because the harbors were hos
tile. miscalculation of tide might
leave them on bar, and fog might
overthrow all the plans of wisest COM
modore and admiral, and accident might
leave them, not on the land ready for an
ambulance, but at the bottom of the sea,
as when the torpedo blew up the TeCum-
sch, in Mobile bay, and nearly all on
board persisted. They were at the mercy
Of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which
have no mercy. Such tempests as
wrecked the Spanish Armada might any
day sWoop upon the squadron, No hid
ing behind the earthworks. No digging
in of cavalry spurs at the sound Of re-
treat. Mightier than all the fortresses
on all the coasts is the ocean when it
bombards fotilla. In the cemeteries
for Federal and Confederate dead are the
bodies of most of those who fell on the
land, But where those are who went
down in the war vessels will not be
known until the sea
GIVES UP ITS DEAD.
The Jack tsrs knew that while loving
arms might carry the men
who fell on the land and
bury them with solemn liturgy
and the honorS of war, for the bodies of
those who dropped from the ratlines into
the sea or went down with all on board
under the stroke of gunboat there re-
NAMED the shark and the whale, and the
endless tossing of the sea which cannot
rest. How will you find their graves for
this national decoration? Nothing but
the archangel'S trumpet shall reach their
lowly bed. A few Of them have been
gathered into naval cemeteries of the
land, and you will garland the sod that
covers them, but who will put flowers on
the fallen crew Of the exploded Westtield
and ShaWSheen, and the sunkeD South
field and the Winfield Scott. Bullets
threatening in front, bombs threatening
from from above, tOrpedOes threatening
from beneath, and the ocean With its
reputation of 5000 years for shipwreck
lying all around, am not right in saying
it requires special courage TOR the navy!
1t looks picturesque and beautiful to
see war vessel going out through the
NarTOws, sailors N a new rig singing:
life on the ocean wave,
home on the rolling deep
The colors gracefully dipping to passing
ships, the decks Immediately clean, and
the guns at quarantine firing q parting
salute. But the poetry is all gone out Ok
that ship as it comes Cutiof that engage
ment, Its decks red with human blood,
Wheel-house gone, the cabins 2 pile of
shattered mirrors and destroyed furni-
ture, steering wheel broken, smoke-stsCk
crushed, hundred-pOund WhitwOrth
rife shot having left It's mark from port
to starbOard, the shrouds rent away,
ladders sp!intered and decks ploughed
up, and smoke blaCkened and scaded
cOrpses lying among those who are gasp
ing their last gasp far away from home
and kindred, whom they love as much as
we love
WIFE AND PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
Not waiting until you are dead to put
upon your grave 6 wreath OF recognition,
this hour we put on your living brow the
garland of nations praise.
o, men Of the Western Gulf squadron,
of the Eastern Gulf squadron, of tie
South Atlantic squadron, of the North
Atlantic squadron, of the Mississippi
squadron, of the Pacific squadron, of the
West India squadron and Of the Potomac
fotilla, hear our thanks Take the bene-
diction OF our churches. Accept the hos
FATALITIES of the nation. II we had our
way we would get you not only pension,
but home and prinCely wardrobe, and
an equipage and banquet while you
live, and after your departure Catafalque
and q mausoleum of sculptured marble,
with model of the ship in which you
won the day It is considered gallant
thing when in q naval fight the flagship
with the blue ensign goes ahead up
a river or into a bay, it's ad-
miral standing in the shrouds watch
ing and giving orders. But / have
to tell you, oh veterans If the Ameri-
can navy! il you are as loyal to Christ as
you were to the government, there is q
flagship sailing ahead of you of which
Christ is the admiral, and He watches
from the shrouds, and the heavens are
the blue ensign, and He leads you toward
the harbor, and all the broadsides of
earth and hell cannot damage you, and
ye, whose garments were once red wit b |
your own blood, shall have robe washed |
and made white in the blood of the Lamb. |
Then strike eight bells! High noon IN
heaven
With such antiCipatiOns, Oh veterans Of !
the American navy, charge you bear up |
under the aches and weaknesses that you /
still carry from the war-times. You are |
not as stalwart as you would have been |
but for that nervous strain and for that |
terrific exposure. Let every ache and |
pain, instead of depressing,
REMIND YOU OF YOUR FIDELITY.
The sinking of the Weehawken, !
of Norris island, December 6, 1868, |
was MYSTERY. She was not under fire |
The sea was not rough. But Admiral |
Dahlgren, from the deck of the flag !
steamer Philadelphia, saw her gradually |
sinking, and finally she struck the |
ground, but the flag still tloated above the |
wave in the sight of the shipping. 1t was
found that she sunk from |
weakness through injuries in previous
service. Her plates had been knocked |
loose in previous times. So you have |
in nerve, and muscle, and bone, and |
dimmed eyesight, and difficult hearing, |
and shortness of breath, many intima-
tions that you are gradually going down.
1t is the service of tWenty-three years |
ago that is telling on you. Be of good |
cheer. We owe you just as much as
though your life-bIood had gurgled |
through the scuppers of the ship in the
Red River expedition, or as though |
you had gone down with the |
Melville of Hatteras Only keep
your flag flying as did the illustrious
Good cheer, my boys! The memory
Of man is poor and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who
fought for it Is an untruth. It does for